Venison Sloppy Joes + Roasted Brussels Sprouts

These two items might conjure up some less than pleasant images. Sloppy Joes are often cast off as bad lunch-lady food and Brussels sprouts, yuck! Surprisingly, I love these two foods and I just happened to have the ingredients to serve them together, as a meal.

For the record, I started eating Brussels sprouts about 3 years ago; I did not grow up eating them. And even if I did, I might have been that kid that actually ate her Brussels sprouts as I was known as the human garbage disposal and liked everything. (Let’s hope I get half as lucky if I ever have kids!) If you have not eaten a lot of them in your life (Brussels sprouts, not kids), my suggestion to you is get them from the farmers’ mkt as they are super fresh (like everything!). Cut them in half and saute them in butter or olive oil for about 10 minutes on medium-high heat. When they are almost done, add some pecans or walnuts and turn down the heat and cook for a few minutes more. Turn off the heat and then add a touch of real maple syrup . This is a nice way to eat them because of the sweet flavor, which contrasts with the sprouts.

I used ground venison instead of ground beef in the Sloppy Joes because that’s what was in my freezer. I served it on a hotdog bun because again, that’s what was in my freezer 🙂 I didn’t really measure anything, so if you need to add/subtract more/less of this or that, by all means, please do.

Sloppy Joes

Ingredients

1 lb ground meat

3 or 4 large green onions, sliced thin (I used green onions instead of yellow or red because I have ton of them ready to be harvested from my garden right now)

4 garlic cloves, minced

~ 1 cup of ketchup

Several tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 or 2 tablespoons brown sugar

Olive oil

Directions

Brown meat on medium heat. (Venison is very lean, so I added a little oil in which to brown it).

When meat is about half way done, add green onions and garlic. Stir and let cook.

Toss Brussels Sprouts with some olive oil and lay on a baking sheet or in glass baking container in one row.

Bake at 425 for about 20 minutes or until they are tender and lightly browned, shaking the pan occasionally to even-out the cooking.

Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper.

Note: If your Sprouts are different sizes cut up the larger ones so that they are more or less the same size to ensure that they will cook evenly. Roasted Brussels Sprouts are delicious served with a drizzle or two of homemade mayo on top. See the recipe for it here.

Browning meat with fresh green onions and garlic

Ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, and brown sugar have been added. Just a few more minutes until it's done!